Manchester band Oasis are one of the biggest UK acts of the last 20 years. Noel and Liam Gallagher are massive Blues, but ex-guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs is staunchly Red...

When and why did you first start supporting United?
Probably about 1973. My dad was an amateur referee, so football was always a big deal in our house. He was a big Manchester City fan and my brother was a massive United fan – he still is, but doesn’t get to matches anymore as he lives in the USA. I lived about two miles from City’s ground; everyone I knew supported them, so my first experience of going to a game was at Maine Road. I was drawn to United as more of a rebellion against everyone else. It was good to wind up friends and family – my sister was, and still is, a big City fan.

Can you remember the first home game you attended?
My first game was against Everton in 1976, so I was about 11. I went with an older cousin. United won 4-0. I can’t recall who scored. [Jimmy Greenhoff, Gordon Hill, Lou Macari and Stuart Pearson all got on the scoresheet, on 27 December 1976.]

How difficult was it being a Red in Oasis, with Noel and Liam being such big City fans?
Not too difficult – as obviously they couldn’t shout about much on a Saturday because they hardly ever won! Tony McCarroll, our first drummer, was a Red as well. If you look at the tickets we had printed for the gig at Maine Road, you’ll notice we’re not on them. Total refusal! As for playing at Maine Road, I don’t think football and who I supported came into it for me. It was a ground I was familiar with, as I’d been to many a match there with mates, and to walk out onto the stage and see 40,000 people cheering for us was a feeling I’ll never forget. It could have been Stockport County’s ground and I’d still have been overwhelmed.

Who are your most disliked opponents?
I’d have to say Liverpool. I’ve nothing against Liverpudlians, but the fans used to terrorise our neighbourhood when I was young. And living close to Maine Road scared me to death.

What’s your favourite United memory?
Beating Liverpool in the FA Cup final in 1977, without a doubt.

And your favourite United goal?
Eric Cantona against Arsenal in 1993. I know a few Arsenal fans and they don’t like being reminded!

Do you get to matches much?
The last game I went to was Bryan Robson’s testimonial against Celtic. My mate Lee caught his boot at the end when he threw it into the crowd. He has it in a glass case now. After I left school I stopped going to the match. I’m an armchair supporter now, but still glued to the results on a Saturday.

Have you ever met any of the players?
Yes, I was out drinking with Roy Keane in my local pub in about 2001. We used to get a few players at gigs, but they tended to hide up in the posh seats away from Noel and Liam.

How do you think United will do next season?
I’d say they’ll win the league again for sure. The FA Cup is due, and hopefully they’ll do well in Europe.

The subject of whether Oasis will ever reunite is a favorite of speculation among rock fans. For Liam Gallagher's part though, he isn't rushing it. The former Oasis member and Beady Eye frontman spoke with Digital Spy and said that while he and brother Noel don't speak, he could see a reunion happening eventually.

Liam said, "Me and our kid [Noel] still don't speak. Gem [Archer] and the lads still speak. Without being fucking hippy, it'll happen when it'll happen. If the musical gods want it to happen...Wherever it'll be, it will be big. But who's to say it should be big? Maybe it'll be small. If it does happen, we'll be match-fit."

He swore he would never play Glastonbury again after headlining with Oasis nearly ten years ago – but yesterday Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye kicked off events at the festival.

With the words "Get in" and a moment of silence while he surveyed the crowds, the singer launched into Flick Of The Finger, the first song to be heard on the Other Stage at Worthy Farm this year.

Despite the relatively early hour and the mud underfoot, thanks to a downpour of rain that lasted all night, thousands of people turned out to see the band. Their performance was unbilled but Gallagher had dropped heavy hints about it on his Twitter account.

Although the Mancunian was wearing sunglasses, they were mostly not needed as grey clouds hovered over the Somerset site, with the sun trying to break out.

The biggest cheers came for Oasis hit Rock 'N' Roll Star and, perhaps aptly for the time of day, What's The Story Morning Glory, which turned into a mass singalong.

Fan Hayley Storey, 30, from Leeds, said: "We only came this way because we wanted a beer – we'd not heard they were playing. It's a great way to open the festival. I'm so glad they did Oasis stuff too."

Chris Goode, 35, from Greenwich, south-east London, said: "It was quite a surprise to see them. It was just luck. I didn't think Liam would be up this early in the morning. I bet he's not even been to bed yet."

It seems the singer was also surprised to be awake, grumbling to the crowd at one point: "11.30 in the ******* morning."

But he later added: "It's never too early for a bit of rock and roll echo."

He had previously complained about the sound system at the festival after Oasis played on the Pyramid stage in 2004.

Gallagher apologised to festival goers for making their headaches worse if they had one, and told them with his typical swagger as the set came to a close: "You've been amazing. But not as good as us.

"Have a good day, weekend, life."

His partner, Nicole Appleton, was among those watching. at the side.

Before his appearance at the festival, Gallagher stunned locals at a Somerset pub when he stopped in for a pint. He popped in to the Crossways Inn at Burnham-on-Sea where he sought out a corner of the room for a low-profile drink.

The pub's Jaime Wallace said: "Liam and another person spent about an hour having a drink in a quiet corner of the pub.

"He certainly took us by surprise, but it was great to see him here on his way to the festival."

28 June 2013

Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye were the surprise opening act on The Other Stage with a raucous set at 11:00 BST.

"It's never too early for a bit of rock'n'roll aggro, is it?" asked Gallagher, as his band launched into Oasis hit Morning Glory.

Other acts playing on Friday include Chic and headliners The Arctic Monkeys.

After a day of rain, the clouds broke around midday, apparently conjured up by the sun-bleached rock of US sibling trio Haim. By the end of their set, raincoats were being traded for suncream.

The sun came out in time for fans to watch Jake Bugg's afternoon set
About 180,000 fans have gathered at the 900-acre Worthy farm for the festival, which has been largely peaceful so far, with 107 reported crimes and 61 arrests.

Somerset police say there have also been 32 drug related offences reported, 12 of which were for possession of restricted substances.

Liam Gallagher's early morning set was something of a turnaround for the former Oasis frontman, who previously headlined the festival in 1995 and 2004.

The latter appearance was not well-received, and Gallagher later claimed the festival was "full of idiots".

But after Friday's performance, the singer told the BBC "Glastonbury's back in the good books. I just had a bad experience, but now it's cool again.

"It's always been cool, it's just me. I'm full of it."

He added that playing such an early starting time on the Friday morning had been something of a surprise.

"Someone just asked us - do you fancy going on at 11 o'clock, and we thought, why not? We've headlined it, we've done all that. It's time to do something different.

"I absolutely loved it, I mean it. I thought 11 o'clock could be really ropey but I thought we done well, man."

Click here to watch a short video of the band talking about the festival.

Liam Gallagher goes from snarling to storming in this not-so-secret gig on the Other stage

It's the first proper morning of Glastonbury: you're tired, you're hungover and there's mud in some truly unexpected places. Let's face it, you're not exactly going to call James Blake to solve this situation, are you? Beady Eye, on the other hand, are just the tonic we need. Liam Gallagher swaggers up with the expression of someone about to invite the microphone to step outside – then just stands there, staring, snarling, reminding the crowd that he's one of the few rock stars around with real star charisma. It's a brilliant opening to the Other stage's bill – even if the "secret" element of their appearance was rather ruined by a massive Beady Eye banner that had been draped across the stage.

The brassy Sitek brass of BE tracks such as Second Bite of the Apple power the set along, and when things begin to lull, during an inadvisable space rock wig-out, Liam unleashes a couple of Oasis songs: Rock'n'roll Star (dedicated to sons Lennon and Gene) is as menacing as the clouds circling the stage, and produces the excellent ad lib: "I'm a rock'n'roll star … at 11.30 in the fucking morning!"

Beady Eye tracks such as The Roller are, it has to be said, shown up by the former bands' glories, but closing track Bring the Light matches their peaks for sheer verve at least.

"You've been amazing," says Liam, and you worry that perhaps he has become a little too obsequious. Then he steps up to the mic again and snarls: "But not as good as us."

Liam Gallagher has admitted he was wrong to criticise Glastonbury and has revealed he only blasted the music festival because he had a bad time in 2004.

Liam Gallagher admits he was wrong to criticise the Glastonbury festival.

The singer and his band Beady Eye kicked off the world renowned event in Somerset, South West England, this morning (28.06.13) with a surprise gig on The Other Stage.

The group's appearance came as a shock to many after the rocker blasted the festival just a few weeks ago for being full of "celebrities walking around in their boots" but after thrilling thousands this morning Liam has conceded his criticism was unfair.

Speaking backstage at the festival, Liam - who played Glastonbury three times with his old band Oasis, first in 1994 then as headliners in 1995 and 2004 - exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I had a sh***y gig last time I was here with Oasis, my head was a bit pickled, but we have minds and minds are meant to be changed. I've changed my mind, we've had a good experience today and times before. I take it back."

Thousands of festival goers went to see Beady Eye open at 11:00am and Liam was thrilled with the atmosphere as they played their set - which included tracks off their new album 'BE' such as 'Flick of the Finger' and 'I'm Just Saying' and Oasis songs 'Morning Glory' and 'Rock 'n' Roll' star.

He said: "It's all about the music man, that's the thing about this festival, we just sent the music out into the universe and it was all good. We thought there would be no one there ... it was really good."

Liam's bandmate Gem Archer hopes the band's songs got some of the lazier festival goers out of their tents.

Gem said: "I'd like to think there were a load of people lying in their tents hearing our lovely music wafting over and coming out to see us with their bleary heads."

Beady Eye played a secret set to open this year’s Glastonbury festival this morning. Fans who endured muddy conditions as they arrived on site yesterday sprinted to the main stage to hear a swaggering Liam Gallagher kick off this year’s rock n roll extravaganza.

Gallagher had previously headlined the festival with Oasis in 1995 and 2004. There are rumours of further unannounced performances over the weekend.

Beady Eye opened this year's Glastonbury festival with thousands of fans sprinting to the main stage to see their unadvertised secret set.

Liam Gallagher's band were the first band on at the English music event held on Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, after a posting on the group's official Twitter account cryptically revealed a time and date which coincides with the start of the festival.

The tweet read, 'Where will you BE? 11am 28.06.13.'

Liam also posted on Twitter: '11am Friday - BE there or BE square..LG x'. (sic)

Liam was joined by his wife Nicole Appleton and three children Lennon, Molly and Gene who watched the main man perform from the side of the stage.

The last time Liam, guitarist Gem Archer and lead guitarist Andy Bell played at Glastonbury in 2004 they headlined with Oasis - which disbanded after Noel Gallagher quit in August 2009.

The super-group also topped the bill in 1995 after performing one of the sets of the weekend in 1994 - a performance which organiser Michael Eavis has listed in his top five festival moments.

His daughter Emily Eavis also included Oasis' 95 headline slot as one of her favourite moments in the festival's illustrious history.

She said: '1995 was a great year. It was the height of Britpop, and that was reflected in all the great bands who played - Oasis, Elastica, The Verve.

'Pulp were amazing, headlining the Pyramid stage. Plus, the weather was gorgeous. Another thing I remember is Robbie Williams turning up backstage. At that point he was still in Take That, so everyone was totally amazed to see him there. He bowled up to the festival with bright yellow hair.

'I remember thinking, Is that really him? He was hanging out with Oasis, running around - totally manic. And then of course he joined Oasis on stage. It was quite a spontaneous thing - I don't think he'd planned it at all.

'It seemed like that weekend convinced him that life in Take That was not for him. He seemed to have some kind of epiphany.'

Liam - who has just released the band's second album 'BE' - had claimed he wouldn't play the iconic event again because it was now full of 'celebrities' and had lost touch with its hippy roots.

The secret guests when the festival was last staged in 2011 were Pulp and Radiohead and rumours have circulated that David Bowie could also make a shock appearance this weekend.

Louise Mullock, spokesperson for Seatwave, said: 'Demand for Rolling Stones tickets is always high, however in the days preceding their Glastonbury performance we have seen ticket demand surge beyond expectations.

'Despite their advancing years, Sir Mick and his cohorts are still able draw huge audiences.'

27 June 2013

Liam Gallagher has revealed he hopes that new Beady Eye album, BE, will gain the band some new fans - admitting that at the moment, they don't have many too lose.

In a new documentary for music website Noisey, Gallagher speaks openly about his music career - past and present, revealing he believes the door is closed on Oasis and saying that fans should get over his past and focus on his current project.

"Theres always room for a few more fans mate, especially in the Beady Eye world without a doubt," says Gallagher when asked if he hopes BE will gain new fans or alienate older Beady Eye listeners. "It might get us a few, it might lose us a few, we've not got that many to lose anyway have we."

Gallagher also claims that the ongoing comparisons between Oasis and Beady Eye is 'the Oasis disease', and reveals his annoyance that brother Noel's current project, High Flying Birds, isn't similarly compared to the Britpop giant.

When asked about a potential Oasis reunion, he responds: "I honestly think its f*cking done," adding "You don't want to be singing other peoples fucking songs for the rest of your life."

Gallagher has been performing a number of Oasis tracks in recent Beady Eye live shows, and the band are widely believed to be performing a 'secret' show at Glastonbury this weekend.

Earlier this week the band tweeted a cryptic image on Twitter, asking fans 'Where will you be?' and naming a date and time - which coincides with Glasto 2013.

Noisey Films is proud to present 'Start Anew? : On The Campaign Trail With Beady Eye.'

Over the past couple of months, Noisey has had exclusive access to one of the most iconic figures in British music as he tries to step out of the shadows of Oasis with the release of Beady Eye's second album 'Be.' Will the discerning choices of Dave Sitek on production and Trevor Jackson on design allow them to become an artistic endeavor in their own right?

From rehearsals and interviews to instores and playbacks, Noisey documents the story of our kid as he and his band attempt to prove that they are more than the sum of their parts and that this record will take them in a new direction. In Liam's own words "I wouldn't put it out if I was nervous. I hope people like it. If they don't they can go fuck themselves."

Noel Gallagher has beaten his brother Liam to the title of Most Stylish Rock Star.

The guitarist - who quit Oasis in 2009 - has topped a poll to find the best dressed rocker, and even though Beady Eye singer Liam has his own Pretty Green fashion line he could only make fifth spot.

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner - who headlines Glastonbury this weekend - came second, Kasabian axe man made third place, while Miles Kane, famous for his sharp suits and Mod style, finished fourth.

The British poll was carried out by designer menswear store www.stuartslondon.com.
Ravi Grewal, owner of Stuarts London, said: ''It's good to see that musicians are still looked up to when it comes to their fashion choices.

And it seems smartly dressed rockers like Gallagher, Turner and Pizzorno have overtaken scruffy rockers

''Alex Turner has experimented with different looks, from his early days in Barracuta jackets to his rocker image today, but he always pulls them off perfectly.

''Liam and Miles both gave him a run for his money in the poll, and either would have been great choices as winners - their styles mix statement pieces like Liam's leopard print shoes or Miles's flashy suits, with classic wardrobe staples.''

Other notable entrants in the top 10 included 'Lightning Bolt' singer Jake Bugg in at number seven, while sharply dressed Brandon Flowers, whose band The Killers headlined their first ever Wembley Stadium show last weekend, came in at number eight.
The 'Modfather' Paul Weller rounded off the top 10.

Liam and his band Beady Eye - who just released new album 'BE' - are set to play a surprise set at the Glastonbury music festival which kicks on Friday (28.06.13)

Beady Eye are rumoured to be playing a secret gig at Glastonbury this weekend.

Earlier today (June 26), The Sun claimed the 'Second Bite Of The Apple' group will play a midday set at the Worthy Farm bash. Now both Beady Eye and frontman Liam Gallagher have almost confirmed the rumours by posting a date and time on Twitter.

Gallagher had previously stated that he would never return to play Glastobury, following Oasis' headline performance in 2004. At the time, he told XFM: "The sound is shit and really quiet. You can hear the crowd talking while you're playing. They don't put any money into the PA and it's just full of fucking idiots."

He added: "Now it's like Bond Street with mud, with loads of celebrities walking around in their boots and umbrellas. I'm not having it."

Beady Eye are currently the bookies second favourite to play a secret show at Glastonbury. The 'BE' group are 5/1 on to surprise Worthy Farm, behind Daft Punk who are the favourites on 6/4. David Bowie is at 6/1 and Queens Of The Stone Age at 10/1.

This year's Glastonbury festival is to be live streamed for the first time with viewers able to watch different stages as the action happens. The BBC will use the latest digital technology to allow viewers to choose from simultaneous live streams from all the major stages and has announced that over 250 hours of footage will be broadcast across the weekend.

What with KASABIAN playing the very first EVER gig at the Olympic Park it seemed only right we put on the very first THIS FEELING warehouse party afterwards!

THIS FEELING's first ever warehouse party shall be taking place after KASABIAN, PAUL WELLER, THE CRIBS and MILES KANE have destroyed the HARD ROCK CALLING festival. It's around 20 minutes door to door on the tube from the Olympic Park to This Feeling (Stratford to Bethnal Green nearest tube stations) and goes on till 6am...

On Beady Eye’s new album, BE, Liam Gallagher takes the biggest risk of his career.

For two decades, the former Oasis frontman has done what he knows best – sing straight-up ‘60s-influenced rock ‘n’ roll songs.

When Oasis imploded in 2009, Liam – and latter-day Oasis members Andy Bell, Gem Archer and drummer Chris Sharrock – saw no reason to stray from that formula.

While Noel, the man behind the band’s biggest hits, went out on his own as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, the remaining three formed Beady Eye.

Their first offering was the solid-but-safe, Steve Lillywhite-produced debut, Different Gear Still Speeding. Featuring the catchy Instant Karma-sounding single “The Roller” it was, like Liam, ‘60s-obsessed.

However, after a muted response to Different Gear, which was critically and commercially overshadowed by Noel’s album, Beady Eye began to rethink.

According to drummer Chris Sharrock, it was time for a change. Enter TV On The Radio guitarist and trailblazing indie producer, Dave Sitek.

“We didn’t really know much about him,” Sharrock says. “His name was put to us, as in, you know, this guy could be interested.”

Sitek is best known for his production work with hip New Yorkers Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He’s also worked with Foals, Liars and Santigold, and so it would be fair to say, at least on paper, Dave Sitek and Beady Eye have little in common.

“We thought we’d meet him and check him out,” Sharrock continues. “Well, actually we kind of met him 20 minutes before we started recording. And we didn’t really listen to anything he’d done before because we didn’t wanna go in with any … if he’d done something that we didn’t like, you know, it would have been all over.”

Unsurprisingly, working with the experimentally-minded Sitek was vastly different to making their debut.

“He challenged us more,” Sharrock explains. “He said, ‘here you are guys, what about this?’ and ‘why don’t you try that?’”

According to Sharrock, Different Gear Still Speeding producer Steve Lillywhite “didn’t stick it out to the end anyway”, and left the band “running around like headless chickens”. On the other hand, Sitek became like Beady Eye’s “fifth member”.

“He had his little corner of the studio going on and we had our corner. We’d meet in the middle over the coffee machine.”

In the lead-up to the release of this album, Liam Gallagher was typically bold. BE, he said, was the album Oasis should have made after their mega-selling magnum opus, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?

In production terms, at least, he’s right. BE is the sound a band freed from the shackles of commercial expectations – out of their comfort zone, but loving it.

Take the futuristic album opener, “Flick Of The Finger”, with its aggressive horns, thumping Velvet Underground-like drums, and seize-the-moment lyricism. The same goes for the modern-sounding “Soul Love”, a dark, brooding song Oasis would never have recorded in their pomp. That sense of musical adventure is further explored on spacey tracks like “Don’t Brother Me” and the closing ballad, “Start Anew”.

Essentially, BE showcases a band hungry to carve out their own creative path, an opportunity afforded to them by the departure of Noel.

“Everyone has to step up and bring more songs in as opposed to just learning them,” Sharrock says. “There’s a lot of creativity going on, we’re always jamming. We’ve got three or four new tunes already – they’re very rough sort of jams but there’s something there. There’s three writers in the band so there’s never a shortage of songs.”

Sharrock continues: “After the last gig on the last tour we said, ‘right we’re gonna have three months off’. After about a week and a half everyone was like, ‘should we do something, should we get together?’ We can never leave it alone for too long, this is just what we do.”

Their unshakable enthusiasm is impressive given that, for part of 2011, the band was like a “rudderless ship”.

“The last management bailed in the middle of that tour,” Sharrock explains. “We went a couple of weeks without management. It was a shit thing to do but I didn’t really look at them as management anyway. They were just people who booked my cab and train. There was no love lost for me.”

Either way, things are well truly back on track now. The band is getting set to hit the road for a string of UK shows and festivals. Having missed Australia on their previous world tour (and on the last Oasis tour), Sharrock confirms that the band is “definitely” coming here this time around.

Not only that, they’ll coming with a couple of Oasis songs up their sleeves – they’ve been rehearsing “Morning Glory” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” – and with new touring bassist and former Kasabian member Jay Mehler.

“He’s a great guy,” Sharrock says. “We were sorry to lose Jeff [Wooten] because he was kind of there from the start, but Jay’s doing a great job. We know him anyway, we’ve known him a few years through Kasabian and it’s great having him around.”
Meanwhile, with the album and tour cycle in full swing, Liam has been whipping up a storm in the British tabloids. Notable stories include his claim he could’ve written Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” in an hour, and reports he tried to ride a dog during a particularly boozy night at the pub.

“I wasn’t with him that night but I heard him talking about it,” Sharrock says, already laughing. “He was like, ‘fuckin’ hell this is a load of bollocks. It wasn’t a dog, it was a pig’. You never know with him. You never stop laughing, laughing or crying.”

And as for the constant ‘will they, won’t they?’ Oasis reformation rumours, Sharrock says he’s not the man with the answer.

“I’m kind of last on the list,” he laughs. “I’ll go with the flow. We never speak about it and we never think about it amongst ourselves. Especially me, it’s got nothing really to do with me.” But if they’re getting back together, I’m available.”

Beady Eye might always be known as Oasis minus Noel Gallagher, but as they’re now proving, that needn’t be a disadvantage. Instead, it can be an exciting point of difference.

Robbie Williams has had a pop back at Liam Gallagher after the ex-Oasis frontman reignited their bitter feud.

Liam called him a “f***ing fat f***ing idiot” in jealousy over Robbie playing four nights at Man City’s Etihad Stadium this week.

But the Take That star has retaliated by saying he wished Beady Eye’s music was as good as Liam’s chat.

Robbie said: “The interviews are better than the records at the minute. I really enjoy the interviews. Liam is like an episode of Star Stories.” He then laid into some of the songs on new Beady Eye album BE, saying: “The production is really good. There are a couple of tunes that would have been f***ing amazing if they had a chorus.

“Flick Of The Finger, nearly a great tune. Start Anew, if that had a chorus, but there is no chorus.”

It’s not just Liam who’s battled with Robbie, his brother and former Oasis bandmate NOEL has too.

His most famous dig was calling Rob “the fat dancer from Take That”.

But that’s water under the bridge.

Robbie’s full of praise for Noel these days — he thinks Beady Eye would succeed if he was on board. He added: “They are missing The General. I’ve heard Second Bite Of The Apple, I don’t know why nobody said anything.

“When you listen to them (songs on the album) you think, ‘Please put a chorus in — it will be brilliant.’ They are not going to have a character brave enough to tell Liam that.”

At the Brit Awards back in 2000 Robbie offered to fight Liam on live TV for a charity purse of £100,000.

Noel should step in to try to make that a reality.

After this year’s belting run of Teenage Cancer Trust gigs, Noel has experience in curating events.

Robbie and Liam going toe-to-toe with a fortune given to charity?
Silly idea.